An out-of-control space station put in orbit by China will come crashing back to Earth within weeks and could hit Australia.
The Tiangong-1 space station, which is hurtling towards Earth carrying a ‘highly toxic chemical’, will likely hit sometime between March 24 and April 19.
Chunks full of toxic chemicals from the space station could hit Tasmania, Seven News reported.
The satellite contains chemicals used in rocket fuel, which could rain down on Australia.
The Tiangong-1 space station (artist’s impression), which is hurtling towards Earth carrying a ‘highly toxic chemical’, will likely hit sometime between 24th March and 19th April
Chunks full of toxic chemicals from the space station could hit Tasmania
Aerospace predicts that a ‘small amount of debris’ could hit the Earth, which would fall ‘within a region that is a few hundred kilometres in size’.
People are being advised to avoid touching any debris or inhaling vapors, as chunks of the satellite could contain the highly toxic chemical hydrazine.
Agencies around the world have been monitoring the doomed 8.5-tonne craft, which is believed to contain dangerous hydrazine, as it falls toward the planet.
However, it will only be during the final week that experts will know with full confidence when it would land and where the debris will fall.
According to Aerospace, a research organisation that advises government and private enterprise on space flight, the space station will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere in the first week of April.
Exactly where it will hit is slightly harder to predict, although experts agree it will be somewhere between latitudes of 43° north and 43° south.
The chances of re-entry are slightly higher in northern states in the US, central Italy, northern Spain, northern China, New Zealand, the Middle East and parts of South Africa and southern Africa.
Scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA), based in Paris, are among those tracking Tiangong-1, which means ‘heavenly palace’.
‘Every couple of years something like this happens, but Tiangong-1 is big and dense so we need to keep an eye on it’, Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist from Harvard University told the Guardian.
While a precise landing location remains unclear, ESA has provided the latitudes between which Tiangong-1 is likely to land – and countries at risk include Spain, Italy, Turkey, India and parts of the US. ESA says no fragments will fall higher than 43°N or further south than 43°S
While most of it will burn up during re-entry, around 10 to 40 per cent of the satellite is expected to survive as debris, and some parts may contain dangerous hydrazine.
However, due to changing conditions in space, it is not possible to accurately predict where the module will land.
In recent months, the spacecraft has been speeding up and it is now falling by around 6km (3.7 miles) a week. In October it was falling at 1.5km (0.9 miles) a week.
ESA issued an updated prediction of its re-entry date on January 12, giving a current estimated window between March 17 and April 21.
Agencies around the world have been monitoring the doomed craft’s descent, with three separate predictions issued in recent days. Experts from the European Space Agency give a current estimated re-entry window of between March 17 and April 21
‘It is only in the final week or so that we are going to be able to start speaking about it with more confidence,’ said Dr McDowell.
‘I would guess that a few pieces will survive re-entry. But we will only know where they are going to land after after the fact.’
Website Satflare, which provides online 3D tracking of more than 15,000 satellites, has calculated what it thinks are the chances of the space station entering the atmosphere during the next three months.
According to its analysis of orbital elements gathered during the last months, the re-enter may occur in March (20 per cent), in April (60 per cent) or in May 2018 (20 per cent).
These predictions may also change as new orbital measurements will be available.
Website Satflare has calculated odds of re-entry in March (20 per cent), in April (60 per cent) and in May 2018 (20 per cent)
Aerospace Corp has also issued its own forecast.
In a written statement, a company spokesman said: ‘When considering the worst-case locations, the probability that a specific person will be struck by Tiangong-1 debris is about one million times smaller than the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot.
‘In the history of spaceflight, no known person has ever been harmed by reentering space debris.
‘Only one person has ever been recorded as being hit by a piece of space debris and, fortunately, she was not injured.’
On September 14, 2016, China made an official statement predicting Tiangong-1 would reenter the atmosphere in the latter half of 2017.
Experts from Aerospace’s Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies (Cords) have been studying the space station and in November updated their predictions for its uncontrolled re-entry.
WHAT IS THE ‘HIGHLY TOXIC’ CHEMICAL ONBOARD CHINA’S TIANGONG-1 SPACE STATION?
A ‘highly-toxic’ corrosive chemical could land on Earth when parts of an out-of-control Chinese space station crash into our planet.
The chemical, called hydrazine, is used in rocket fuel and long-term exposure is believed to cause cancer in humans.
It is being carried aboard the Tiangong-1 space station which is hurtling towards Earth.
The warning over exposure to the chemical came from Aerospace Corp, a non-profit corporation based in El Segundo, California, which provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions.
Hydrazine is a colourless, oily liquid or sometimes white crystalline compound with a very highly reactive base.
A ‘highly-toxic’ corrosive chemical could be spread over the planet when a Chinese space station crashes to Earth, experts have warned. The substance, called hydrazine, is used in rocket fuel and is believed to cause cancer in humans (stock image)
It has a number of industrial, agricultural and military uses, including in rocket fuel.
Symptoms of short-term exposure to high levels of hydrazine include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, and coma, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Long-term exposure can also damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system in humans.
The liquid is corrosive and may produce dermatitis from skin contact in humans and animals.
Increased incidences of lung, nasal cavity, and liver tumours have been observed in rodents exposed to hydrazine.
The EPA has classified hydrazine as a Group B2, a probable human carcinogen.
The Tiangong-1 spacecraft launched in 2011, with the aim of using the craft to set up a larger space station.
The craft is now at an altitude of less than 300 kilometres (186 miles) in an orbit that is decaying, forcing it to make an uncontrolled re-entry.
Holger Krag, head of ESA’s Space Debris Office, said: ‘Owing to the geometry of the station’s orbit, we can already exclude the possibility that any fragments will fall over any spot further north than 43°N or further south than 43°S.
‘This means that re-entry may take place over any spot on Earth between these latitudes, which includes several European countries, for example.
‘The date, time and geographic footprint of the re-entry can only be predicted with large uncertainties.
Aerospace Corp, a US non-profit corporation which provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions, says Tiangong-1 will re-enter the planet’s atmosphere in mid to late March, with wiggle room of two weeks either side of this timeframe
WHAT IS THE TIANGONG-1 SPACE STATION?
The vehicle is 10.4 metres long and has a main diameter of 3.35 metres. It has a liftoff mass of 8,506 kilograms and provides 15 cubic metres of pressurised volume
Tiangong-1 is China’s first Space Station Module.
The vehicle was the nation’s first step towards its ultimate goal of developing, building, and operating a large Space Station as a permanent human presence in Low Earth Orbit.
The module was launched on September 29, 2012.
Tiangong-1 features flight-proven components of Chinese Shenzhou Spacecraft as well as new technology.
The module consists of three sections: the aft service module, a transition section and the habitable orbital module.
The vehicle is 10.4 metres long and has a main diameter of 3.35 metres.
It has a liftoff mass of 8,506 kilograms and provides 15 cubic metres of pressurized volume.
‘Even shortly before re-entry, only a very large time and geographical window can be estimated.’
Much of the spacecraft is expected to burn up in the atmosphere upon re-entry.
But owing to the station’s mass and construction materials, there is a possibility that some portions of it will survive and reach the surface.
In the history of spaceflight, no casualties due to falling space debris have ever been confirmed.
The Chinese space agency has been tracking the space station (pictured before it was launched in 2011), and vowed to issue warnings if there are any potential collisions imminent. But not everyone is convinced by this
The vehicle is 10.4 metres long and has a main diameter of 3.35 metres. It has a liftoff mass of 8,506 kilograms and provides 15 cubic metres of pressurized volume